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Biol Bull 115: 303-318. (October 1958)
© 1958 Marine Biological Laboratory
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THE REPETITION OF PATTERN IN THE RESPIRATION OF UCA PUGNAX

H. MARGUERITE WEBB 1 and FRANK A. BROWN JR. 1

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Goucher College, Towson 4, Md.; Department of Biological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

1. The form of the mean diurnal rhythm of O2-consumption of Uca pugnax is described and found to be practically identical for the summers of 1955, 1956, and 1957.

2. The mean lunar-day rhythm of O2-consumption is described for the summers of the same three years. The curve for any one of these years is indistinguishable from that for either of the other two years.

3. The mean lunar-day rhythm consists of two maxima, of equal magnitude, occurring approximately at lunar zenith and at lunar nadir; between the maxima are two minima symmetrical with respect to time of occurrence and magnitude.

4. For the primary lunar rhythm the ratio of maximum to minimum is about 1.4; for the diurnal rhythm the ratio of maximum to minimum is 1.2 in 1955, 1.4 in 1956, and 1.2 in 1957.

5. Because of the amplitude of the lunar component of the rhythm, the data for single days reveal clearly the progression of lunar maxima and minima.

6. Because of the equality in amplitude of fluctuations correlated in time with lunar zenith and with lunar nadir, the overt rhythm is one with a period of 12.4 hours. There is a pattern of fluctuations characteristic of each day in a semi-lunar period.

7. The reproducibility of the daily pattern in successive semi-lunar periods, and in successive years, is demonstrated.

8. In general a strongly positive correlation is found between simultaneous hourly values for different groups of animals during the first seven days after collection. There is a general decrease in the extent of these correlations with time in the laboratory.

9. There is strong evidence for a time-dependent variable affecting the size of the coefficients of correlation for simultaneous hourly values obtained during a wide range of times in the laboratory.

10. Hourly values for single days of a semi-lunar period were correlated with the hourly values for comparable days of successive semi-lunar periods. The coefficients of correlation were positive and significantly different from zero for thirteen of the fifteen days of 1957, the exceptions being the eighth day after new or full moon and the day of new or full moon for which the coefficients were not significantly different from zero. For 1956 the exceptions were the day before new or full moon, and the second and eighth days after; the coefficients for these three days were not significantly different from zero. For the other twelve days the correlations were strongly positive.

11. The relevance of these findings to an understanding of the phenomenon of biological rhythmicity is discussed.






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Copyright © 1958 by the Marine Biological Laboratory.